Censorship in adolescent literature is common. Adolescent literature often exposes real life issues and problems teens confront in the world. Though some of the work can be thought provoking, it is considered literature worth reading if it can teach us something about the human condition. Often award winning literature is challenged and teachers are under fire for bringing books to the classroom. In this course we will spend time reading the adolescent novel, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, by Alison Bechdel. This graphic memoir, is a coming out story, chronicling a life growing up in a house fraught with father-daughter tension, secrets, and lies, all in the town Fun Home, or funeral home.
You will have an opportunity to engage in a debate surrounding the censorship of this book in a school. I will be assigning roles on this page when we get closer to that time in the semester.
Censorship in Adolescent Literature
Censorship in adolescent literature is common. Adolescent literature often exposes real life issues and problems teens confront in the world. Though some of the work can be thought provoking, it is considered literature worth reading if it can teach us something about the human condition. Often award winning literature is challenged and teachers are under fire for bringing books to the classroom. In this course we will spend time reading the adolescent novel, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, by Alison Bechdel. This graphic memoir, is a coming out story, chronicling a life growing up in a house fraught with father-daughter tension, secrets, and lies, all in the town Fun Home, or funeral home.
Bechdel, A. (2006). Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Below are links to information about censorship.
Common Ground: Speak With One Voice on Intellectual Freedom
Censorship: Don't Let it Become an Issue in Your Schools
Guidelines for Selecting Materials in English Language Arts Programs
Guidelines for Dealing With Censorship of Nonprint and Multimedia Materials
Statement on Censorship and Professional Guidelines
You will have an opportunity to engage in a debate surrounding the censorship of this book in a school. I will be assigning roles on this page when we get closer to that time in the semester.
The roles: